Cleaner and trimmer for lantern and lamp wicks



Marh 24 1925. 1,530,733

- J. c. MORGAN CLEANER AND TRIMMER FOR LANTERN AND LAMP WICKS FiledMarch 21. 1923 Fig. 2

I v r4 Irzuezz'iar 0k]: 6T ZZoIya/m Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

? umrr. stares tent/'33 PATENT, entice.

JOHN G. MORGAN, or univnnsar. CITY, cemsonnm/ CLEANER AND FOR LANTERNAND LAM? WIGKS.

Application filed March 21, 1923. Serial No. 626,475.

To all 107mm it may concern:

Beit known that I. Jouw (l. lvlouonn'. a citizen of the United States.residing at Universal City, in thecounty oglfLos Angelcs .and State ofCalifornia. have invented a lanterns which they can freely swing togive.

signals; and the oil found preferahletor such lanterns is or such acharacter that accumulations of carbon are found on the nick and must becleaned oil or the light is likely to be extinguished on a sudden orsevere swing of the lantern. Such extinguisluuent of the light is verydangerous, but so far as I am aware no means for avoiding suchaccumulation has been heretofore known.

This invention is particularly adapted for usehy train-men to instantlyclean the wicks of their lanterns, but is also useful on any oil lamp orlantern in which a straigl'it wick is employed and may be embodied in anattachment for the burners of oil lamps or lanterns and may beapplied toand be ope-rable by the thumb piece which regulates the raising andlowering of the wick. and comprises a scraper and means whereby a simpleturning of the thumb piece, and without the removal. of the chimney thescraper will be caused to scrape across the top of the wick tube, thusremoving the charred end of" the wick and leave a fresh wick end incondition to give a clear. bright and even flame. I

. An object of this invention is to save time and labor in the care ofwicks for oil lamps and lanterns.

Another object is to provide means which will always be at hand readyfor. use to trim and clean a lamp wick without removing the chimney, andwhich will not he conspicuous or unsightly.

Another object is to provide an attachs ment to a lantern or lamp thatcan be easily and quickly applied to the wick adjusting stem of the lampor lantern.

the wick by providing means adapted to trim the wick Without cutting orremoving my uncharred part thereof.

An ohject'is to enable a railroad. man to instantly trim the wick of hislantern whenever and wherever it may require trimming.

Another object is simplicity and cheapness of manufacture.

Other objects, advantages and features of: invention may appear from theaccompanying drawing.'the subjoined detail description and the appendedclaims.

This attachment may he developed in many dili erent forms withoutdeparting from the spirit of. the invention and, several of such formsare shown in the accompanying drawing. 1 do not wish to confine myselfto any specific form.

The accompanying drawingillustrates the invention. n

Figure l is a view on a small scale showing the invention in. one of itssimplest forms as applled to a lantern.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation 'on'a larger scale, of an attachment shown inFlg. 1 applied to the burner of a lanternj a fragment of which is shown.

Fig. 3 is a plan'ot the device'shown in Fig. omitting the chimney andthe frame of the lantern. Dot and dash. lines indicate the position-ofparts when the cleaner isnotbe'ing operated.

Fig. lis an elevation on line .1 Figs. 2

and 3, looking in the direction of the a rrows.

- Fig. '5 a side elevation of a modified. form of the attachment inwhich the standard is detachably mounted on a hollow stem. Fig. 6 is anedge view of the same look ingtrom the left of Fig. 5.

. Fig. 7 is'a View showing another term of scraper detached from itsstandard.

Fig. 8 shows another term of the attach; ment detachably applieddirectly to. the stem.

. of the thumb piece.

Fig. 9 is a view of the same taken troin the left of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 shows the attachment constructed of wire and mounted on the stemof the thumb piece.

Fig. 11 is a tragmental detail illustrating Q a simple construction ofthe clamp. Another ob ect 1s to prolong the life of f attached atitslower endto asleeve 2 which is loosely mounted on the stem 3.01 thethumb piece 4 that operates the wick 5. The sleeve 2 is provided at itsouter end with a thumb piece 6 by which the standard l with its scraperedge 7 may be operated.

The scraper edge 7 is slidably mounted on the standard 1 by means of aneye 8 at one end thereof into which the stanrlard l closely fits, thusfixing the scraper 7 at the desired adjusted height.

To mount-the attachment on a lamp or lantern a the thumb piece 4; isremoved from its stem. 3 and-the sleeve 2 slipped onto the stem 3bringing the standard 1 close to the burner 7). The thumb piece 4: is:then replaced. The chimney c rests on the ledge (Z which is slightlyabove the voil reservoir 0, and said ledge isattached to the {frame ofthe lantern a. the chimney just escaping the sleeve 2.

When not in use, the standard 1 is aslant as shown in Fig. 4 with itstop normally resting against the chimney c as indicated .by. the .dottedline 0 in Fig. 3.; and when .it is desired to trim the wick; it is onlynecessary to revolve the sleeve 2 upon the stem 3 by means of .the thumbpiece 6, thus scraping the scraper 7 across the top of the unburned wick5 and the burner b; and thereby rubbing oil the charred portion of theWick. 1

Figs. 5 and 6 show the standard 1 .composed of two. thicknesses ofspring steel fashioned to clamp onto the sleeve as shown at 9; and thescraper 10 is formed with teeth 12 on the lower edge. In Fig. 1.7 thescraper 10 has teeth 12' formed of wire.

In Figs. 8 and .9 the scraper .13 is provided with a slide 14; havingone tooth 15 which may be adjusted to mark a turrow across the end ofthe wick which may thus be divided into two practically equal parts,

.thus giving greater width to the blaze. The sleeve 2 may be omitted andthe clamp 9 detacha-bly attached directly to the stem 3; in which casethe attachment is swung across the Wick 5 at each turning of the thumbpiece At. In Fig. 10 the attachment is of one piece of wire wound .inacoil 16 about the stem 3 to form a sleeve then brought upright to form astandard 17 and turned horizontally to form the scraper 18. The coil 16takes the place of'the sleeve .2 and thumb piece 6. In Figs. 11 and 12the standard 1" is cut and bent to form spring jaws that comprise theclamp .9, which provides means for detachable'attachment of the standardto the stem of the wick raising and lowering means of the lanternwithout dissembling the wick raising apparatus.

Different forms and combinations of parts shown may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim.

1. A wick trimmerand cleaner comprising a verticalstandard; meansfor-attaching said standard to thewick holder of a lamp or lanternburner; a scraper slidably mounted on thestandard; and means for movingthe scraper across the top of the wick tube in said burner.

,2. A wick trimmer and cleaner attachment comprising a horizontal edgecarried by an arm; said arm beingattached to a lamp burner inside thechimney; means extendingoutside the chimney tor oscillating thehorizontal edge across the wick-in said lamp burner; and means foradjusting the horizontal-edge on said vertical arm.

3. A wick trimmer attachment comprising a scraper adapted to scrape offwick crust;

:and loweringmeans of a lamp or lantern without disassembling the vwickraising apparatus.

4. A wick trimmer attachment comprising a scraper adapted to scrape offwick crust; and a standard provided with spring jaws adapted to grip thestem of the wick raising and lowering means of a lamp or lantern.

5. A wick trimmer comprising a scraper; a stem for raising andlowering-a wick to be trimmed; and means trictionally connected to thestem to operate the scraper by'rotation of said stem to scrape off crustfrom a wick and to permit the stem to be turned .forthe purpose'ofoperating wick raising and lowering means after the crust has beenscraped off. I

.6. A wick cleaner for "lamp or lantern burners comprising ascraper'adapted to be moved across the wick tube of: a lamp or lanternburner; a standard; 'ineans 'to tr'ictionally attach the standard to arotatable stem; and means to adjustably attach the scraper to thestandard.

7. Aw'ick trimmer attachment comprising a horizontal scraper having an:eye at oneend; a vertical standard adapted to be re ceived in, andclosely tit .in said eye; means to oscillate said arm to move saidscraper across a wick to be cleaned; and spring jaws at-one end of saidstandard adapted to 'de tachab'ly connect said standard to-said armoscillating means.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 13th day-of March, 1923. I

. JOHN MORGAN. VV'tness:

J AMES R. TOWNSEND

